Earlier in the
day, a monster resembling a mutant snap turtle crouched in the bushes, watching
as the six rangers walked by, exchanging stories of little significance to the
creature. He didn’t care what they had to say. What they were doing. All he
cared about was their deaths.

The creature,
which newspaper men would later dub ShellShock, leapt out from the bushes and
glared at the rangers. The monster armed a pair of fist blades on each hand
while hissing at the team.

“At least he
gets straight to the point,” Zack said as he and the other five rangers pulled
out their transformation devices.

“Dino buckler!”
they shouted as energy shimmered around them and they transformed into their
Ranger forms. One by one, they assumed fighting stances and shouted their
names.

“Tyranno
Ranger, Red!”

“Dragon Ranger,
Green!”

“Mammoth
Ranger, Black!”

“Tricera
Ranger, Blue!”

“Tiger Ranger,
Yellow!”

“Ptera Ranger,
Pink!”

Together, the
six Rangers shouted: “Battle Task Force…Power Rangers!”

ShellShock
opened his jaws and spat a flurry of energy blasts that exploded around the
Rangers, sparking against their armor.

Tyranno Ranger
somersaulted forward through the explosion while rising to his knees and
drawing his sidearm. “Blade Blaster!” he shouted while firing lances of red
energy that exploded against the turtle monster.

The creature
was taken aback by the blasts’ impact, giving the six Rangers time to regroup.

“Weapons,
guys,” Tyranno Ranger commanded.

But before the
Rangers armed themselves, two bubble-shaped crystals emerged in the monster’s
shoulders. They were ruby red and sparkling with power. The lights flashed and
rays of crimson energy shot out towards the Rangers. Dragon and Tyranno Rangers
leapt to the sides, somersaulting across the ground to avoid the blasts.

Tricera, Tiger,
Mammoth, and Ptera Rangers were struck by the rays. The beams of light formed
an energy shell around the four Rangers, keeping them from moving.

Tyranno Ranger
rose back to his feet, standing alongside Dragon Ranger and aiming his
double-edged sword forward. “What have you done to them!”

The creature
snarled. “Just making it easier to do this…”

ShellShock
pulled in his right arm and extended a new arm, tipped with an organic
tri-barreled cannon. He aimed at the four frozen Rangers and fired.

“No!” Tyranno
and Dragon Rangers shouted, throwing themselves in front of their four
teammates. Blasts exploded against the Rangers’ armor, tossing them backwards
again.

Dragon Ranger
sidestepped away from the blow and hopped to the side, bringing down his Dagger
in a hard diagonal strike. He followed with a quick upward diagonal strike that
knocked the monster backwards.

ShellShock
stumbled across the ground as Tyranno Ranger and Dragon Ranger regrouped.

“Change my
friends back!” Tyranno Ranger shouted.

The monster
retaliated with a crimson energy pulse that exploded against the two Rangers.

The battle
moved downtown, and the monster grew giant. Dragon Ranger and Tyranno Ranger
summoned their tune zords. The Dragon and Tyrannosaurus stomped through the
streets towards their opponent.

Dragon Ranger
armed his dagger. “Dragonzord missiles!” he shouted before playing a battle
tune that echoed across the rooftops.

Dragonzord
launched a flurry of missiles from its fingertips that exploded against the
monster. The creature was taken aback by the barrage as Tyranno moved in and
slammed his tail across the creature’s chest.

The monster
went crashing backward and sliding across the street, tearing through pavement
and roads as his giant shell ripped across concrete and steel. The two Rangers
overpowered and destroyed the monster, breaking the energy shell that was
freezing the other Rangers in place.

Tommy slammed
his locker shut, taking out the frustration of his sore shoulder on the metal
door. The pain itself didn’t bother him. It was what the pain signified. It was
a minor injury from ShellShock, and a constant, nagging reminder that he was
the Dragon Ranger.

A killer.

He had done so
many evil things while working for Bandora. Unspeakable acts of carnage and
terror. How would he ever recover?

The halls
around him were filled with kids his own age. Their words betrayed far more
simpler thoughts. A girl’s boyfriends cheating on her - with two girls at the
same time no less - the night before, trouble with math classes, the latest
music craze, the occasional mention of “baseball,” a less-than-clever code word
for pot.

He walked into
a classroom. The walls were trimmed with green. Tommy had never noticed the
colors before. He rolled his eyes and took a seat in the back of the room. The
teacher started class. He gave a lecture on some political topic. It was all
the same. All irrelevant.

Tommy’s mind
wandered as his eyes stared ahead at the green trimming on the walls. He felt
trapped.

“Tommy?” the
teacher called, breaking Tommy out of daze. “Would you care to answer the
question?”

Tommy looked to
his teacher. What was the question? Which class was this anyway? Everyone
stared. Tommy - who had killed three of Bandora’s warlords, battled the Rangers
to stand stills, killed innocents - knew fear.

Before he could
answer, his communicator sounded. The class snickered.

The teacher
crossed his arms over his chest. “Would you turn your pager off and answer the
question?”

“I, uh…” Tommy
stammered as he rose to his feet. “I don’t feel so well…”

His teacher
started to protest but he was already out the door, dashing down the hallway.

The media
called it the SpitFlower: a plant monster capable of spitting venomous and
flesh-eating flowers that had already killed dozens in the city.

SpitFlower had
the Power Rangers at his will. The five Rangers were struggling to stay on
their feet as small biting flowers covered their armor. The flowers bit down
hard, weakening the Rangers despite their best efforts to fight back.

SpitFlower
licked its lips, pleased with its handiwork and excited about the meal of
Ranger meat he was about to ingest. He leaned forward and fired yellow energy
blasts with his antenna that exploded against the Rangers armor and sent them
falling backwards.

SpitFlower
darted forward with his pincer hands to attack the fallen Rangers. Tyranno
Ranger managed to rise to his knees and hold his sword forward, but the monster
knocked the Red Ranger away. SpitFlower moved to Tricera Ranger next, thrashing
his claws across Blue Ranger’s armor. The creatures beat back the rest of the
Rangers one by one, its claws and pincers thrashing against their armor.

The monster
licked his lips again as he watched the Rangers squirm on their bellies like
helpless animals. He opened his jaws wide, revealing a mouth full of fangs.

Nearby, Tommy
was running to the scene as fast as he could. Legs pumping, he would not let
the rangers down. He could not let them die. Not after all the harm he’d cause.
He pulled out his buckler.

“Dino Buckler!”
he shouted while morphing into his Ranger form and jumping through the air
towards SpitFlower.

Dragon Ranger
slammed a flying sidekick against the monster, causing the creature to stumble
backward. SpitFlower snapped back and swung its pincers towards the Ranger’s
head. Dragon Ranger blocked the blow and slammed a roundkick against the monster’s
side.

Dragon Ranger
followed by swinging upward with a diagonal strike that thrashed across the
monster’s body with a burst of sparks. Green Ranger brought his blade back down
for another strike that cut against the creature.

Dragon Ranger
skipped forward with a jump kick that knocked the monster backward. The
creature stumbled off its feet and rolled out of control over the ground.

Dragon Ranger
turned and ran to the Rangers’ side. He helped them remove the fanged flowers
from their armor and get back to their feet.

A streak of
light shot through the sky and speared against the creature’s body. Dark light
enveloped the monster and it expanded to giant size with a thundering boom.

“Tommy,”
Tyranno Ranger said. “We need the Dragonzord.”

“Right,” Dragon Ranger said as he drew his Dagger,
lifting the blade towards the air before swinging it back down towards his
mouthpiece.

Dragon Ranger
played the battle melody that summoned his zord from the sea.

The three
Dinozords stormed forward and joined the stampede towards the SpitFlower.

“Dragonzord
fusion!” Tyranno Ranger commanded from below. The four zords reshaped and
merged together into one giant Megazord. The core five Rangers leapt upward and
joined in the MegaDragonzord’s cockpit.

SpitFlower
leaned forward and fired twin blasts of yellow energy lances that exploded
against the MegaDragonzord’s armor. The Megazord was taken aback as the
SpitFlower moved in for another attack. The creature swung its pincers towards
the Megazord’s head.

MegaDragonzord
low blocked the blow with one arm and stepped forward, swinging the other fist
hard against the creature’s body. Explosions sparked across the monster on
impact as MegaDragonzord stepped forward again, slamming a pair of backfist
blows against the monster.

SpitFlower
retaliate by hacking a wad of piranha flowers that latched against the zord and
bit down hard against its armor. Explosions sparked against MegaDragonzord,
forcing the zord a few steps back as the SpitFlower advanced.

Zordon’s
voice came from over their communicators. “Rangers, focus your attack on the
creature’s pollen sack. The sack is his most vulnerable weak point.”

“Alright,
Zordon,” Tyranno Ranger answered. “Mega spear crash!”

The drill spear
crackled with energy as it started to spin. MegaDragonzord thrust the spear
forward. The spear bore through the monster, causing a gaping hole in its chest
as its energy overloaded and exploded.

Tommy walked
through the back streets of downtown Angel Grove North. Street lights and cars
passing by cast a pale glow across the night-lit streets. Tommy hand his hands
in his pockets and his shoulders slumped down, as if he bore the weight of the
world.

He moved
through a block of 12-story tall apartment buildings. Tommy stopped in front of
a brick building to his right. Shannon had lived there.

Tommy closed
his eyes and sighed. He could still hear her voice. Smell the scent of her
hair. Feel the touch of her skin. God, he missed her. She had been so vibrant
and full of life. She found excitement and joy in the simplest of things. She
was brilliant musician on the piano. The piano had been her escape.

Shannon’s
father had been an abusive, drunk. Her mother stood by, pretending that all was
right with the world. Pretending that her husband didn’t cheat on her weekly or
make her daughter cry.

Shannon had
lived a hard life. She didn’t deserve to die. Tommy was going to take her away.
Far away from all her problems. They were going to start a life together. Raise
a family. But they never hadchance.

Tommy walked
over and sat on the steps leading up to the apartment building. His mind
flashed back to when he and Shannon had started dating…

Shannon was
leaning on her knees while sitting on the steps next to Tommy. She moved to her
left, resting her head on Tommy’s shoulder. A smile crossed her face. “Do you
ever wonder what we’re supposed to be doing?”

“It depends
on who you ask,” Tommy said, placed a hand over her shoulder. “What do you
mean, anyway? You-and-me we or we-in-the grand-cosmic-sense we?”

She smiled
and shrugged. “Both.”

“Well,”
Tommy said. “You-and-me-we are supposed to be reading about the exploits of our
forefathers for history.”

She
playfully shrugged him in the shoulder. “Don’t be a dork, Tom.”

“My bad,” he
said. “Now…as to your question…ready for the serious answer?”

“Yeah,” she
said, readjusting herself to look up into his eyes.

“Well,”
Tommy said, “I think that some people have destinies…fate decides what they‘ll
do. Other people, like you and me, we make our own destines. We’re above all
that fate crap.”

“How so?”
she asked.

“I don’t
know,” Tommy said, his face turning slightly red.

“Oh…come
one,” she said, giving him another playful nudge. “Tell me.”

“Well…it’s
almost like we’re out of place, ya know. The life we’re on now, the track we’re
on now, doesn’t fit us. So we can branch off, and make our own track.”

“Where would
the track take us?” she asked.

“Wherever we
wanted it to,” Tommy said. “To the east coast where you could start your own
recital hall, and I could open a martial arts school. Maybe over to Europe and
do some traveling. I love traveling…although I’ve never actually left the
city…so I guess I should say I would like to travel.”

She smiled
and nudged him playfully again. “If we’re making our own destinies we need to
think bigger.”

“How much
bigger?” Tommy asked.

Shannon
shrugged and leaned back, looking up into the sky. The city glow blocked out a
view of the stars that shone above. “As cliché as it sounds…I want to see the
stars. Up close, not from this blotted up view.”

“How come?”
Tommy asked.

“Because,”
she answered. “The stars make me realize that…there’s more to life than what
happens in this city. Or even the world. There’s more to life than you, me, or
anyone. There’s something greater out there.”

“You mean
like God?” Tommy asked.

She
shrugged. “I don’t know…I just know that…if we ever really want to find
ourselves…we have to reach for the stars.”

Tommy walked
over and sat on the steps. His communicator toned. Tommy rolled his hands into
fists. The tone was a reminder. Now and forever, the tone was a reminder.

A creature
whose body resembled a twisted plant and vines with a rotting head for a
pumpkin had the five Rangers in a disadvantage. The monster had a vine wrapped
around the team. The creature sent pulses of jade-tinted energy along the vine.
Each pulse exploding against their armor with a series of ripping sparks.

The Rangers
struggled to break free. But blasts of energy stopped each attempt at escape
from the vine.

Dragon Ranger
suddenly somersaulted through the air. Green Ranger chopped his dagger down
through the vine, cutting it in half, and setting the Rangers free.

The monster
fell backwards and stumbled across the ground.

The rest of the
Rangers regrouped behind Dragon Ranger as he snapped into a fighting stance
while holding his Dragon Dagger forward.

“I’ll hold him
down while you guys get the Power Blaster ready,” Dragon Ranger said.

He didn’t wait
for them to answer. Dragon Ranger held his Dagger high and charged towards the
monster.

Bandora’s
creature rose back to its feet and fired an optic blast from its eye socket.
Blasts exploded around Dragon Ranger, but he continued his advance, determined
to take out his rage against the monster.

Dragon Ranger
dashed forward and slashed his blade diagonally downward across the monster’s
body. He followed by slamming the end of his dagger against the creature’s
head.

Dragon Ranger
pushed forward, slamming a roundkick against the creature’s side. The Green
Ranger followed with a hook kick against the monster’s head.

Dragon Ranger
grabbed hold of the monster, despite its struggling, and held the creature
still while he looked back at the Rangers. “Do it now, guys.”

The Ranger
brought their five weapons together to form the Power Blaster. “Fire!” they
shouted as they launched a massive burst of concentrated energy.

Dragon Ranger
glared at the monster. “Later, squash brain.” He kicked the creature aside as
the energy blast ripped through its body. The monster fell backward and
exploded.

The monster was
a white-furred ape. The creature had a row of metal spikes running down its
head and blood-red eyes. The media called it the Primitar.

The Rangers snapped into fighting stances and faced
off with the creature.

“Tyranno
Ranger, Red!”

“Dragon
Rangers, Green!”

“Mammoth
Ranger, Black!”

“Tricera
Ranger, Blue!”

“Tiger Ranger,
Yellow!”

“Ptera Ranger,
Pink!”

They shouted in
unison. “Battle Task Force Power Rangers!”

Primitar armed
a double-edged spear and charged forward to attack the six Rangers. Tyranno
Ranger and Dragon Ranger moved in to attack first. Tyranno Ranger swung his
sword downward, but Primitar parried the blow and slashed across the Ranger’s
chest.

Dragon Ranger
moved in low and thrashed his dagger across the monster’s chest. He turned and
slammed a roundkick against the creature’s back.

Primitar
snapped his body around and cut across the Ranger’s armor. Mammoth Ranger
chopped down with his axe. The monster deflected the blow and slashed the Black
Ranger across the chest. Tricera Ranger speared his lance against Primitar,
knocking the monster backward.

Ptera Ranger
dropped into a crouched position and launched a trio of arrows that exploded
against Primitar. Tiger Ranger leapt downward and slashed her twin daggers
across the monster’s body.

Primitar leaned
down and launched a volley of head spikes that shot out and exploded against
the six Rangers’ armor with a flurry of sparks and explosions. The Rangers were
still worn down from a battle earlier in the day…

A creature
resembling a heavily armored armadillo tore through the city streets while
firing energy spikes that exploded against nearby buildings and cars. Tommy was
walking nearby with his brother when the attack occurred.

Tommy held his
kid brother by the arm and ran across a walkway arched by concrete pillars
covered with vines. Citizens were running in panic towards the nearest shelter.

“Tommy…” young
Teddy said as they hurried along the walkway. “What’s going on? Is it one of
those monsters on the news?” His voice was filled with a mix of excitement and
fear.

“Yes,” Tommy
answered. “But you’ll be fine. I won’t let anything happen to you.” Not like
what happened to Shannon, he thought to himself.

Tommy led his
younger brother inside the nearest shelter. “Stay here. I’ll be back for you.”
He turned to leave, but Teddy called to him.

“Tommy wait!”
he said as he grabbed onto his brother’s arm. “You can’t just leave me here…”

Tommy’s heart
sank. Could he really abandon his little brother? Did he even have a choice?
“I’ll be back, Teddy. I’m going to just find a phone and call mom. To tell her
we’re okay. I’ll be back for you.”

The armadillo
creature crossed his arms over his chest while holding his forearms outward. A
volley of energy spikes shot forward and cut through the air towards the five
Rangers. The spikes exploded against their armor and knocked them off their
feet. They went slamming through parked cars and crashing against nearby
buildings.

The Rangers
rose to their feet and slowly regrouped as the monster stalked towards them.
The creature was prepared to strike again with another volley of explosive
spikes.

A green blur of
motion streaked down from the air. It was Dragon Ranger. He slammed a flying
sidekick against the monster, and the creature stumbled backward across the
ground. Dragon Ranger landed in a fighting stance as the monster rolled back to
his feet.

Dragon Ranger charged towards the monster. He moved in
close and thrashed downward diagonally, his blade sparking while cutting across
the creature’s armor. He slashed horizontally, and jump kicked the monster
against the chest.

Dragon Ranger
moved forward to slam an elbow against the monster, but the creature retaliated
by swiping its razor-sharp nails against the Green Ranger’s armor.

The other five
Rangers armed their blasters and fired lances of crimson energy at the creature.
The monster rolled up into an armored sphere while the blasts exploded
harmlessly against the creature’s shell.

The monster
bounced off the streets and started to ricochet across the roof tops.

“After him!”
Tyranno Ranger shouted as he and the other five Rangers leapt forward and
jumped towards the rooftops.

______________________________________________________________

Teddy paced
back and forth across the shelter floor. What was taking his brother so long?
Tommy started acting strange after Shannon’s death, but recently, it almost
seemed like a different kind of strange. Teddy couldn’t quite think of a better
way to say it.

His mind
flashed back…

Teddy sat in
front of his television. A control held firmly in both hands, he played the
recent version of a Playstation Final Fantasy game.His parents were in the adjoining dining room, quietly discussing
their fears about the previous day’s attacks. The same attacks that had killed
Shannon and injured their son.

The living
room door slowly opened. Tommy stepped in. The teenager’s hair was disheveled.
His eyes constantly narrowed. His hands clenched into fists.

Teddy raised
his gaze up towards his older brother. “Tommy, are you-”

Tommy used
his leg to shove his younger brother aside.

“Tommy!” his
mother by adoption scolded. “I know you’re upset, but that’s no way to treat
your brother…”

“Upset?”
Tommy said, his voice like ice as he narrowed his eyes at his parents. “You
know nothing…don’t pretend to understand.”

Tommy turned
away from the living room and headed upstairs towards his bedroom. His parents
were stunned silent.

Teddy shivered
at the memory. Tommy had seemed so dark after Shannon died. He almost seemed
scary at the time. But things were different now…

Teddy
knocked on Tommy’s door again. His older brother had not left the room all
day.“Tommy! You missed school. Mom is
going to kill you dead.”

Teddy
knocked again. He knew it was a futile effort. But he loved his brother. He
worried for him. “Tommy, come on…” He leaned his forehead against the door.

“Leave me
alone, Teddy…” Tommy said quietly, his voice shaky.

“Come on,
big brother,” Teddy said as he knocked again.

Tommy swung
the door open. He leaned down and placed his hands on his younger brother’s
shoulders. “You don’t understand, Teddy. I need to be left alone. My life…my
whole life…is gone. Turned upside down and shaken so hard that it’s shattered.
I need to be left alone.”

Dragon Ranger
swung his Dagger upward, breaking Primatar’s blade in half. He followed with a
sidekick that slammed against the monster’s chest, causing Primatar to stumble
over his own feet and collapse to the ground.

The Rangers regrouped
around Dragon Ranger as a streak of dark light struck the monster’s fallen
body. Bandora’s card infused Primatar with energy, causing the monster to
expand into giant size.

The five
Rangers raised their hands into the air. “Dinozords, arise!”

The five
armored beasts stampeded towards their opponent. The Rangers sprung off their
feet and leapt through the air, merging into their cockpits that were embedded
in the zords’ armor.

“Dragonzord!”
Dragon Ranger shouted as he armed his Dagger. He played a battle melody that
summoned his zord from the sea.

He stood alone.
Playing his Dagger while his teammates battled above. He watched through his
visor as the battle started to unfold.

He was removed
from it. The five Rangers were fighting as a team. But Dragon Ranger stood
alone.